Month: December 2018

Safehome has been carrying out pre-purchase building and pest inspections in Melbourne since 2004.

The photographs here was taken by Safehome’s qualified building inspector at building inspection in Richmond and shows an inadequate footing being used to support the floor frame.

This is non compliant with AS2870 Footings standards and an entire new stump would be need to be installed. This comes at a cost as a soil test would need to be carried out to ascertain the required depth of the new stump and also a permit as it’s a load bearing or structural component.

One can see the benefits of a building inspection by this photograph alone, however people are still buying homes without one. Some are luck and some are not.

The client for this photo above had already bought the dwelling and was wondering why the floor was bouncing.

The photograph here depicts timber rot in a joist under the bathroom which is an issue commonly found when inspecting under the house.

The main reason for these leak defects to be located is that inadequate water proofing of the wet areas was carried out during construction and this defect is one of the most prevalent in Victoria.

The costs to repair these defects an range from $3000 to $10,000 depending on the extent of rot to the floor and the floor frame.

It is highly recommended to obtain a pre-purchase building inspection prior to buying a dwelling because once you have bought it, the problems are yours. There is absolutely no way you can have the previous owner repair of pay for repairs.